


Obsolete

by Egobang_for_dayz



Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Family, Fluff, Kidfic, M/M, Some angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-03
Updated: 2017-12-03
Packaged: 2019-02-09 22:22:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12898062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Egobang_for_dayz/pseuds/Egobang_for_dayz
Summary: Dan realizes his kids no longer think he, or the 80's, are cool.





	Obsolete

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to NoMansWindow2846 for beta reading this for me!

Dan climbed into his dark green minivan with a sigh. He hated driving this thing. He missed his SUV but with rising gas prices and now two kids, Arin had finally convinced him to get rid of it. He smiled as Abigail and Fletcher came out of the house and climbed into the seats behind him. Abigail was still fussing with her hair, trying to pull the curls into a ponytail. Her hair was still red, and her brother's green from when Holly had babysat them a couple days ago. She dyed their hair with Halloween dye and had assured them it would wash out; but Monday came and now Dan was shlepping multicolored children to school.

He turned on the radio as he pulled out of the driveway, blasting the Rush CD he had left in the CD player. From behind him, both kids groaned like they were wounded.

"Abba! Not Rush again!!" Abigail said petulantly. Dan laughed her off and turned it up louder; much to the kids dismay.

"You love Rush!" He insisted.

"Not anymore! Rush isn't cool anymore, Abba." Fletcher whined from directly behind Dan. Dan rolled his eyes at his son.

"You and I both know Rush will always be cool!" Dan declared. But he turned it off anyway and switched to some pop station or whatever nonsense Abigail told him to put on. He made it to the school without anymore arguing. "Rock on kids!" Dan called out the open window as the two kids walked into their school. They both groaned and rolled their eyes, before turning away to walk into the school.

You can bet Dan blasted Rush all the way home. But what the kids said had really gotten to him. Rush is always cool, right? Right. Dan nodded to no one in particular to affirm his point as he pulled into his driveway. Arin opened the door as he got out. "Get everyone off to school okay?" Arin asked, kissing his husband hello.

"Yeah I got our Christmas Kids to school just fine." Dan said with a laugh. Arin looked at him confused. "The red and green hair? They're Christmas colored." Dan explained. Arin burst out laughing.

"I never even thought of that." He said. He and Dan went back into the house to start their days. Dan wasn't sure who had decided school should start so early, but he was developing a plan to send Ninja Brian after them as he nursed a cup of coffee. He had swore to himself he would never get up before 9 again once he finished college, but being a dad had changed that plan. Not that he would change it for anything, he loved the little family he had built with his best friend and cohost.

Speaking of, Arin was whipping up some of his world famous scrambled eggs, still in his pajamas and his hair falling out of the ponytail he had put it in the night before. Dan set his coffee cup down and snuck up behind his husband. He wrapped his arms around Arin's waist and kissed him on the neck. Arin let out a surprised squeak but leaned back into him all the same. "We got like an hour until we have to leave for work." Dan whispered to Arin, moving his hands to grab Arin's ass. Arin swatted the spatula he was holding in the air.

"No Dan, we have to eat and I need to get dressed." He said, but he was laughing and his cheeks had the slightest hint of pink. Dan muttered indignantly but backed away, returning to his seat at the counter and his cup of coffee. Arin finished cooking and put the eggs onto two plates. He set one in front of Dan and took his seat on the bar stool next to Dan with his own plate. They ate in comfortable silence, Arin scrolling through his phone and occasionally showing Dan a funny picture. Arin disappeared upstairs to get dressed while Dan cleaned up for breakfast, and after that they headed to the Grump Space to work.

\---

Dan was sitting on their couch with his laptop open, blasting Wham! when Arin came in the front door, children in tow. He paused it as the kids took off their shoes and dumped their backpacks by the front door. "How was school guys?" He asked. Abigail turned to answer him.

"It was good! And Dad played way better music on the way home." She said, before she and her brother raced up the stairs. Arin shot dan a look, with one eyebrow raised. Dan shook his head and laughed.

"They were complaining 'cause I played Rush this morning." He said rolling his eyes. Arin gasped in mock shock.

"You played that devil music for my precious children?" He exclaimed throwing his hands up for emphasis. That really got Dan laughing, the kind laced with tiny snorts and squeaks. He wiped his eyes as he caught his breath. Arin plopped down next to him and kissed him. "What were you rocking out to when we came in?" Arin asked, peeking at Dan's laptop.

"Wham!" Dan answered easily. Arin nodded.

"Groovy." He said with a waggle of his eyebrows. Dan shoved him playfully. Arin knew full well that was lingo from the wrong era but Dan wasn't gonna fight him on it.

\---

A few days later, it happened again. Dan was wearing his favorite faded Rush shirt when Abigail so helpfully reminded him Rush was no longer cool. He laughed it off, but the comment stuck in the back of his mind. Before driving the kids to school, he went back up to his and Arin's bedroom. He shuffled through various shirts until he found a plain black one. He changed shirts, and then took the kids to school.

If Arin noticed the sudden wardrobe change, he didn't mention it.

On their way home from work that day, Dan had an NES snuggled proudly in his lap. They had an extra at the office and Dan was bringing it home to show to the children. He hoped they liked it, maybe it would remind them that old school stuff is still cool. Arin dropped him off and left to go pick the kids up. Dan always dropped them off, and Arin always picked them up; since Dan did better in the morning and was usually done with life after work.

Dan took the time alone to hook up the NES to the TV and pop in the Adventures of Link. He didn't care what the Lovelies said, he loved this game with all his heart.

He started a new file and began playing as he waited for his husband and kids to return. He loved playing just for fun, no microphones. He turned a little when the front door opened but kept his focus on the game in front of him.

"Why are those graphics so bad?" Fletcher asked. He and Abigail came and sat on the floor next to Dan.

"They're not bad! This was amazing back when this game out!" Dan replied almost petulantly. Abigail rolled her eyes.

"When did it come out, a hundred years ago? Can you even connect to wifi with this system?" Abigail prodded the NES, staring at it like it was a wild animal, something to be feared.

"No, but you don't need to! Why would you need to access the internet with your game system when you can just play the game?" Dan was starting to get defensive. This wasn't how this was supposed to go. Once upon a time his kids had been entranced by everything he did, they looked up to him and wanted to be like him. And now? Now he was uncool? That couldn't be.

"All the cool systems have internet. This sucks." Fletcher stood up as he spoke, Abigail right on his heels. They left for the kitchen to find snacks.

"Hey! That's not an acceptable way to speak to your father!" Arin called after them, hands on his hips. Dan wasn't listening. He was chewing on his bottom lip, trying to focus on the game, but he couldn't. His heart was in his stomach. His kids no longer found him cool. They seemed to adore Arin, hung on his every word. Fletcher longed to grow his hair out long like his dad's. But Dan? Dan was uncool. Did his kids even like him anymore? Abigail used to come and snuggle with him all the time, but when was the last time they had done that? Now that she was 13 and in the 7th grade she barely even talked to him anymore. And Fletcher was 12, right behind her. How long before he stopped talking to Dan too? What was he doing wrong? Why did they like Arin so much better? Maybe it was because Arin was so much younger, so much more in the loop with what the younger generations liked. Even Ninja Brian was more in tune with that stuff!

Dan was just too stuck in the 80's. Too old. Too uncool. Much like the game system he was currently playing, Dan was feeling obsolete.

\---

Dan and Arin were playing Mario for their current play through. One of the new ones, on the Wii. Something modern, something Dan couldn't really keep up with. More things to remind him how obsolete he was.

"Man! Graphics have really improved!" Arin mused as he played. Dan grunted something that sounded like agreement.

"Yeah everything new is so cool and the best and everything old is lame, just like me." Dan replied, sarcastically. Arin paused the game and looked at his husband bewildered. He reached up to switch off the microphones.

"Uh, Dan? You ok?" He asked, concern heavy in his voice. Dan shrugged, but when he looked at Arin, tears were already brimming. "Shit, Danny?" Arin questioned again. He grabbed Dan's arm and leaned against the arm of the couch, pulling Dan against him. In the safety of his husbands embrace, Dan let go. He sobbed heavily, quickly soaking Arin's shirt. Arin didn't push him to talk, just whispered words of comfort in his ear and held him close. Finally, when the tears subsided, Dan found his voice again.

"The kids don't think I'm cool anymore, they don't even like me!" He blurred out. Arin pulled back enough to look at him. Dan met his gaze with watery, heartbroken eyes.

"What are you talking about? They adore you."

"They don't think Rush is cool anymore, they don't think the NES is cool. They don't think I'm cool. They adore you, Arin. Fletcher wants long hair like you, Abigail goes to you for everything. They barely even talk to me anymore. They used to be so impressed with stuff I showed them. All the want now is the new modern things." Dan rambled on. Arin kissed his lips, interrupting his spouting.

 

"Is that why you haven't been wearing your band shirts lately?" A nod. "Danny, they're kids. No kids think their parents are cool. It's our job as parents to embarrass them as much as humanly possible." Arin said. Dan let out a shakey sigh.

"I'm too stuck in the 80's. I'll never be cool again." Dan muttered into Arin's chest. Arin shook his head.

"You are the coolest guy I've ever met. And there's no one else I would want to help father my children. You're amazing and I love you, just how you are." Arin assured him. He could tell Dan didn't believe him, and he began to hatch a plan to help Dan feel better.

 

\---

Dan was coming home from work about a month later. Arin had left earlier to pick up the kids, Dan had stayed behind to work on some NSP stuff with Brian. Brian had given him a ride home. Dan was exhausted, ready for a hot shower and some food. He paused outside his front door. Music could be heard from inside. Confused, Dan pushed his way inside.

What he was not expecting was "Under the Covers" blasting through their home stereo system. He also was not expecting to see his husband and his kids dancing around the living room, wearing neon shirts, leg warmers and clutching glow sticks. The lights were dimmed, and Arin was singing loud and off-key into his fistful of glow sticks. They froze when they realized Dan was watching him. Then, Abigail and Fletcher raced towards him, hugging him around his waist.

"Abba! You're home! We're having an 80's party!" Fletcher announced proudly. Dan looked from them, then up to Arin, who was looking at his feet sheepishly.

"Yeah! Why didn't you tell us the 80's had such cool clothes?" Abigail asked, gesturing to herself. Dan noticed her hair was teased to be even bigger, and she smelled faintly of hairspray. At least the red was finally gone. Dan unpeeled himself from his children's grasp and crossed the room to his husband.

"Arin did you do this?" He asked, tears welling up in his eyes. Damn, he was so emotional all the time. Arin nodded, and met his eyes.

"I told you you were still cool. I wanted to show you. Look at them." Arin said, gesturing with his head behind Dan. Dan turned around and laughed.

Abigail and Fletcher were doing all the classic 80's dance moves. Poorly, but that's how everyone did them, even when they were popular. Dan felt his heart swell. He was so blessed to have Arin as his rock, and to have these two beautiful children to share their home with.

Maybe he was stuck in the 80's. But Dan was okay with that.

His family loved him and that was all that mattered.


End file.
